The Partnership between the Chinese Government and Hong Kong's Capitalist Class: Implications for HKSAR Governance, 1997–2012

Abstract

Existing literature has long recognized that a partnership has been forged between the PRC government and Hong Kong's capitalist class. However, the implications of such a partnership for HKSAR governance have yet to be thoroughly explored. By examining the formation of this partnership and its consolidation after 1997, this article argues that the business sector's direct access to the sovereign state has fundamentally changed the dynamics of state–business relations in the HKSAR. As a consequence of the partnership between Beijing and the business sector, business elites have taken their concerns straight to the mainland authorities whenever they see their interests affected by the post-colonial state. This kind of circumvention has become a part of post-1997 politics, undermining the relative autonomy of the post-colonial state and resulting in growing cleavages within the state–business alliance during the first 15 years of the HKSAR. Whether and how such a partnership will evolve in the aftermath of the 2012 chief executive election remains to be seen.

Land Governance Re-Arrangements: The One-Country One-System (OCOS) Versus One-Country Two-System (OCTS) Approach

“…The principles of (re-)unification of the OCTS approach include 'high degree of autonomy' and 'Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong' (Zhu 2012). 'Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong' meant setting up a ruling coalition between the HKSAR government and the business sector (Fong 2014). 'High degree of autonomy' has meant HKSAR has been recognized as a 'city-state' with authority in monetary and social affairs, and international economic cooperation under Chinese sovereignty (Cheung 2014;Tommy 2015).…”

Disarticulation between Civic Values and Nationalism: Mapping Chinese State Nationalism in Post-handover Hong Kong

“…In the face of unremitting social aspirations for democratisation and civic liberties, however, China has been widely framed as the major political force barring Hong Kong from democratising its constitutional structure and exercising civic rights. China's trump cards are local pro-China groups and business and industrial leaders combatting local democrats, and tycoons buying out Hong Kong media and thereby controlling the public voices in Hong Kong (Fong 2014;Hong Kong Journalists Association 2014). Despite the handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China in 1997, the rise of China's geopolitical power since the 1990s, and the growing socio-economic interaction between Hong Kong and China in the post-handover years, the notion of Hong Kong identity has continued to represent cultural resistance against the looming Chinese regime (Fung 2001.…”

State-business relations as drivers of economic performance

“…Coalitions between capitalists and ruling elites can also potentially exist across borders as research from Hong Kong (Fong 2014) shows, where Hong Kong business leaders formed direct partnerships with the ruling elite in Beijing in order to put pressure on the Hong Kong local government to (successfully) alter proposed business enabling environment reforms. Although these links are facilitated by the particular relationship between Hong Kong and Beijing, it does still attest to the fact that international SBRs can be as important as national level SBRs.…”